Sound of the Kettledrums
by ChainALM
Summary: The Great Turf War has raged on for almost a decade, ravaging Inkopolis and beyond. More than a simple Turf War, scores of Inkling colonies are now overrun by the Octarian threat. A weary Inkling leads an army of squid kids against an Octarian stronghold and meets a young Octarian Hunter known as Topaz. Together they search for answers surrounding this invasion from below.
1. Chapter 1: Octo Valley

_How long had it been? Three days? Five days? A week? It seemed too long. Usually the Octarian forces were swarming around Octo Valley leaving no piece of turf unchecked._  
 _Safety. The idea of safety seemed like a delusion, but it had been far too long since she had made her last splat. Just what were these Octarians up to?_  
 _Peeking out from behind the run down shack, which looked to be hastily cobbled together with aluminium sheets and planks of wood, she crawled to the dusty blue recliner, relaxing her back against it as she felt her whole body melt into it. The grate to her left had been blocked off some time ago, a grate that would have allowed her transport back to Inkopolis, a grate that she would have used some time ago given the chance._  
 _Paranoia was this girl's best friend as the calmness suddenly betrayed her, making her whole body shiver in fear as she grasped her Splattershot and fired, the ink soaring across the air and landing with a squelch against the stone ground. There was no enemy, no Octarian soldier, no threat. Maybe she'd have to start moving again, but where? Into the kettles? Topaz rolled onto her stomach and groaned, looking to her right and toward the first kettle._

 _Before now, even the outer base of Octo Valley had been overrun with Octarian patrols, UFO's and marching soldiers, but now it was silent. Octo Valley's outer base was dead, but looking to the horizon, Topaz could see the skyline of Inkopolis, and the situation was much worse. UFO's circled the city, the grand Inkopolis Tower was broken, and the girl swore she could hear the screams of Inklings being corralled and rounded up by Octarian invaders._  
 _It just didn't stop. Inklings from around the world were being hunted down and splatted as the Octarian army and their machines laid everything they set their eyes on to waste. The Great Zapfish was the first to go, captured by the Octarian King at the start of this conquest. Whether it was alive or dead, Topaz didn't know, but she had seen sight of smaller child Zapfish in Octarian lairs that gave her hope that the great fish was still alive. Topaz clutched the Splattershot handle tighter, she needed to conserve her ink, but the urge to just splatter everywhere was too great, a fiery rage consuming the girl as she climbed to her feet._  
 _She brushed her hair from her eyes, the long pink tentacle stuck to her face in the heat. From her Red Check Shirt she pulled a Camo Mesh Cap that was pink like her hair and placed it on her head. Her purple eyes looking to her Trail Boots as she sighed, the sight of Inkopolis on its knees reminding her all too well of when the Octarian troops stormed into the Arowana Mall. She was in the food court with her family, celebrating her fourteenth birthday and enjoying the fabulous chips on sale there. She bit her lower lip, the memory of her parents becoming overwhelmed by the thought of those chips. Not just paranoia, but now hunger was getting to the girl._

 _She had been nothing but a developing squid when they attacked, a great Octoweapon bursting into the mall and storming through everything in its path. Her father had tried to defend them with an E-Litre 3K, and while that worked great against several Octotroopers, it was no match against the Octoweapon. Her father was caught by an Octobomber and was splatted before her eyes. Her mother fared no better, her Krak-On Roller no match for an Octosniper who splatted her from a distance. Scared and confused, the girl subconsciously used her Inkling ability to become a squid at will and melded into the remaining ink. It hurt though, like a poison that seared the skin. She could never answer why she stayed so long in the purple Octarian ink, she could only remember that it hurt, and she cried out, but no voice escaped her. On one tentacle, it saved her. On the other, had she known how badly this Great Turf War would go for the Inkings, she'd have happily been splatted._

 _Arowana Mall was first to go. Saltspray Rig and Port Mackerel had become docks for Octarian shipping and transport. Blackbelly Skatepark and Camp Triggerfish had become Octarian training grounds, where they molded all new Octarians into killers. Walleye Warehouse was converted into a munitions factory. Her memory was hazy on what had become of Bluefin Depot and the Kelp Dome, but as with the others it likely wasn't very good._  
 _After the attack on Arowana Mall, Topaz was later found by a group of Inklings resisting the Octarians. She was brought into their fold at the expense of her Squimanity. She was young, inexperienced, and frightened beyond all belief. She was the perfect decoy for the Octarian forces as the so-called freedom fighters ambushed them at every turn. For the next few years this frightened young girl became an angry, bitter, conniving and forward thinking Inkling. She had learned to channel that anger however, channel it down the barrel of her Splattershot as she began to hunt down Octarians in some measure of revenge. This change in personality had served her well however, Topaz rising through the ranks of the freedom fighters that took her in, eventually becoming their leader and boss._  
 _Her life now had become about survival in what should have been a Wonderland for the Inkling rogue, her hardened expression becoming one of annoyance as she kicked the dirt beneath her feet. She needed to eat, and there were Octarians to splat. She'd take her chances in Kettle One and hope for the best._

 _Kettles were an odd thing Topaz thought; a holdover from the defeat of the Octarians in the previous Turf War. Octarians dwelled in a world deep underground. The individual caves in which they lived were connected by a network of transport devices known as 'kettles'._  
 _Becoming a squid, and seeping into the first, Topaz found herself in the Octotrooper Hideout. When you thought of the words "Octotrooper Hideout", a vast metropolis where one got by by jumping on rooftops was not the first thing to come to mind Topaz thought, and yet that's exactly what it was, though maybe metropolis was stretching the truth even then. The Octotrooper Hideout was more like the remnants of a metropolis, with building literally falling to their side with damaged neon lights hanging off of buildings like hotels or casinos. The rooftops of these buildings however were littered with Octotroopers and the occasional Shielded Octotrooper._

 _Topaz had been through here before, but found no way to street level as the buildings were so tall that she would only be splatted if she ever fell off, but there didn't appear to be any way IN to any of these vacant, decrepit and unused buildings. So just what was the point of them she wondered. And if there was no way in, just how were the Octarians getting out? They didn't appear to be patrolling for anything particular as their dumb, derpy looking faces stared vacantly out into the skyline. Though it wasn't really a skyline, and if Topaz had any sympathy left in her heart, she might have extended some to the Octarians. Their skyline was a lie. Panels littered and lined up along the cave walls, projected the image of a skyline that cycled through dawn, dusk, day and night._  
 _Tired of living a lie. Tired of living a fallacy. It was no wonder they revolted again. It was no wonder they wanted the freedom the Inklings had. But that didn't excuse it, they were lesser beings in every respect as far as Topaz was concerned, dashing out from behind a wall and blasting a surprised Octotrooper in the face with a few rounds of her ink until it splattered, leaving a puddle of Topaz' ink were it once stood. She moved on quickly, smashing some crates in the hopes of finding some supplies before moving to the next area via the Super Jump Pad. She landed on the next walkway, a trail of her ink already left over from a previous run through the area. Topaz quickly ran towards it, becoming a squid and swimming down the walkway, her ink tank refilling as she went. There was a Shielded Octotrooper on the platform ahead of her, as easy to splat as a regular tentacle, but that shield was tricky and the next Jump Pad wouldn't open for her without splatting the enemy Octarian. Topaz filled up a bomb and tossed it up onto the high platform where the Shielded Octotrooper was waiting. It took the bait, turning to examine the bomb and that's when Topaz struck, splatting her enemy before moving forward again._

 _She'd been through here a few times, and each time the way forward remained the same, but the powers that be were either stupid, or just toying with her as the gross living tentacles of the Octarian forces were just replaced ad infinitum. She might have enjoyed hunting them, but these were nothing; stupid and unrefined. They were quite literally living tentacles - tentacles with legs, eyes and a mouth that controlled their turrets with the tip of their own heads. These weren't the troops that a lack of made Topaz paranoid and upset, almost insulted by. These were cannon fodder and every part of the Octarian Army knew it, but them. Swimming forward, Topaz timed a bomb with the movement of the Octotroopers and splatted both with the same bomb._

 _In the next area, Topaz decided to amuse herself, shooting a trail of her ink around the bases of the Octotrooper's turret transport machines. The looks on their big silly, bulging green eyes and warping of their disgusting big, purple lips as Topaz casually walked toward them, changing into squid form to avoid their fire as they sunk into her ink. It seemed to hurt them as much as touching theirs hurt her and she revelled in it as they gonked and croaked before the Inkling girl caused them to splat. A grin pursed the Inkling's lips. These were too stupid to live, let alone be afraid of._

 _Before long, the area was Octarian free, but just how long until the next wave were deployed she wondered. Her mind then moved to her crew and how they were doing without her against the Octarian's. Had her whole crew come to Octo Valley, maybe it wouldn't have taken so long to figure out, maybe they'd have found the Great Zapfish and been able to use its great powers to help Inkopolis and the world beyond. But that was a pipe dream and the girl knew it. The days of those sorts of dreams fleeted, withered and died with the revival of all of the Great Octoweapons. With those monstrous weapons of mass destruction on the loose, outside the confines of the Octo Valley kettles, the world was doomed. Not even Topaz and her band of 'Freedom Fighters' could withstand the Octoweapons. That didn't stop her from wanting to try however, she had her reasons after all._

 _Right now however, throwing her life away wasn't on the agenda. Her life was about to be on the line however as an enemy unfamiliar to the area had ambushed the girl. A Splat Bomb, an ink filled bomb in the shape of a pyramid, landed at her feet, the girl's eyes bugging out of her head as she jumped to way the wayside. The residual blast of the bomb caught her however and she was thrown to the edge of the skyscraper she was on, clinging to the side of it with one hand, and to her Splattershot with the other, grasping both for dear life as she took aim at the enemy who had caught her off guard, an Octobomber._

 _An Octobomber was a large gelatinous blob of an enemy with two massive wing like tentacles. It had keen sight and aim and actually flew through the air using the propeller on the metal hat it wore which also functioned as its primary weapon as it tossed bombs at foes from this hat also. Not only was this one out of the Splattershot's range, but Topaz was struggling to aim her weapon for a proper shot and keep her grasp on the building's edge. The Octobomber drew closer, preparing to splat the Inkling for good, and leaving Topaz with little choice as the blob moved closer. Topaz let go of the skyscraper, falling from it and toward the ground._

 _The Octobomber moved closer to the edge of the skyscraper letting out a 'womp' of a noise as it confirmed that the Inkling Topaz was no longer hanging from the edge of the building. An audible 'kshh' was heard, the sound of a radio that the Octobomber was communicating through._

 _Much like the Octotroopers before it though, the Octobomber's eyes suddenly bugged out of its head when communications ended, as a squid suddenly leapt into the air in front of the Octobomber, changing into Topaz and loading the Octobomber up with ink until it splatted._  
 _Inklings are an ingenious species. They can hide in their own ink when in squid form. This allows them to traverse terrain quickly and efficiently as well as refill their ink tanks. They can however also climb walls using this same tactic. When Topaz let go of the building, she disappeared into her own ink which was sprayed on the wall of the skyscraper from when she was hastily trying to aim at the Octobomber._

 _Catching her breath, Topaz removed her cap and wiped her brow. That was too close for comfort. This was the Octotrooper Hideout, so why was there an Octobomber flying around? Were there any others? Is this what they wanted? To lull the Inkling into a false sense of security and splat her when she was overwhelmed? It was going to take more than one Octobomber to do that, but now she knew, the powers that be were letting her live in the outer base of Octo Valley. They weren't coming to get her yet because they had no reason to. Something else was coming. This was warning. Topaz quickly left the area and found herself back in the quiet Octo Valley. Looking to the highest platform, she performed a super jump to get there and looked out into the landscape again, her eyes on the massive octopus shaped rock formation that gave the Valley its name, and then to the ruins of Inkopolis. Her eyes then fell to her feet. She was standing on another kettle. If the Octarian's were now moving around the caves, every kettle could be a death sentence. There was no cannon fodder only. Topaz super jumped back to the shack to think. It was the only thing resembling a safe haven in all of Octo Valley and as the Inkling scrambled back onto the blue recliner, she fidgeted at the television, feverishly pressing buttons and turning dials, trying to get a signal from the dish, moving to mess with the dials on the contraptions in the shack, hoping for some kind of response. Nothing happened. She glared at the broken, oversized snow globe next to the shack._

 _Topaz kicked the television in annoyance. Thing was probably too old to get anything decent._  
 _What was a girl to do? No plan, no backup, no weapon worth its weight in coins. Topaz just smirked. This could be fun. A romp through familiar territory but with mixed results. It might just help her get to the bottom of what's going on she thought, making a bee line for Kettle Two. Who knew what she could find? Octarians moving through the caves, searching for her and making plans for her splattering. It made her ink pressure run high._

 _"_ Time to Get Fresh! _" she taunted, seeping into the second kettle._


	2. Chapter 2: The Captain

"Sienna! Get back here!" _called an older voice as a young, orange tentacle Inkling threw herself into the air, coming down hard on an Octotrooper with her Dynamo Roller, laughing heartily as it splatted under the weight of the motorised Roller weapon.  
As she landed, the young Inkling girl threw her head up with a smirk, her orange eyes gleaming as she tossed a Sprinkler behind her to cover her immediate space. The girl wore Colourful Headphones, a White Striped LS (long-sleeved) shirt and Gold Hi-Horses on her feet._  
"Three O'Clock _!" called a young male's voice, a young boy throwing a voice in Sienna's direction that popped open to her right creating a wall of ink._  
"A Splash Wall!" _the girl commented, the boy nodding._  
"It won't hold for long, so do as the Cap'n says and get back here!"  
 _The Inkling girl, Sienna, looked to the boy with blue tentacles tied up into a double tail, the typical Inkling Boy hairstyle. He wore White Arrowbands, a pair of white glasses strapped to his face with an adjustable band, a Baby Jelly Shirt, and Blue Biker Boots. His weapon of choice was the Jet Squelcher._

"You're always the same, aren't you Ginger?" _called another female voice, the orange haired Inkling looking to see a green haired Inkling with dark skin and green eyes. She wore a green Takoroka Mesh cap, an Urchins Jersey, obviously a fan of the Urchins baseball team, a pair of Oyster Clogs adorned her feet._ "I understand that you're enthusiastic, but the Cap'n is trying to make sure we survive. I have to wonder if you're not trying to get splatted out there. There's no need to be so reckless. Tell her, Gorman!" _she stated, looking at the Inkling boy._  
"Well, um, yes, quite right." _Gorman responded._ "The four of us are trying to make it to safety, and that's just not going to happen if you are throwing yourself at the enemy ever so willy nilly. Now, if you'll excuse me, the Splash Wall has given out." _he said as he pointed his Jet Squelcher at the oncoming troops. While the Jet Squelcher didn't have the best fire rate or damage, it had enough range to make up for it. Not only that, but the green Inkling girl had stepped forward aiming with her Kelp Splatterscope. It was just like a normal Splat Charger, but with bits of kelp built into the body and a scope attached for more precise aiming. This did leave her vulnerable however._

"Don't let the good Cap'n down now, Gorman." _Jade teased as she fired at the oncoming enemies, the Octotroopers making their usual warped gonk noises as they communicated with one another, an entire Splatoon descending on the Inklings, Sienna preparing her Roller, more than happy to steam roll anything that got close._  
 _It didn't take long however. So long as the trio was careful, the Octotroopers were too slow to do any real damage, though getting caught by their ink did hurt.  
Jade scanned a row of jagged, broken, crumbling buildings looking for the Cap'n of their squad. It was he who insisted that the four of them stick together as per the old, established rules. Turf Wars, a past time of Inklings for thousands of years, were to be fought four on four. They were always for fun. Getting splatted was never fatal as you would always respawn at your team's camp. However, if you thought the Octarians had any intentions of playing fair, you really had to have been living under a rock these past few years._  
 _The Octarian's attacked in waves, destroying the respawn points, when the Turf Wars became real, Inklings stopped changing colour. There were no more teams, just a species trying to wrap its tentacles around a sliver of hope, desperate to survive._

"Cap'n!" Gorman called. "We could really do with a hand."

 _High above the young trio, an older Inkling stood atop a building, he had lines around his weary, purple eyes. He sported a purple Short Beanie, a Camo Zip Hoodie and a pair of plain black boots that were said to be fashioned after those Octarian troops wore. This was a lie, obviously. The Octarians didn't wear clothing. Not in the traditional sense as the Inklings did. The closest might have been the devastating Executioners who were said to wear black, full tentacle body covers.  
He was The Cap'n of this crew. This Inkling had taken it up himself to make sure that the three below him were kept safe, that they were to survive this wretched Great Turf War and see the next generation of Inklings live long, bountiful lives.  
The wind blew and the realisation that this fourth Inkling was on the battlefield caused warning alarms to go off amongst the Octotroopers, their warped garbled gonks becoming more synchronised and focused. The saucer flying around them began to circle the Cap'n, lighting up like Inkopolis during a Splatfest._

"You've got to be squidding me!" _the Cap'n groaned, his eyes narrowing as he held out his weapon, the N-Zap '85 and fired on the saucer before super jumping from the building and landing next to the trio below._  
"Whoa, Cap'n!" _Sienna beamed as the older squid landed._ "Just what on Earth set them off?"  
"That would be me, I'm afraid." _The Cap'n responded, his voice gruff. Much like Inkopolis and the world beyond, the War had changed the Cap'n. He used to be more outgoing like Sienna, more adventurous and romantic. It was why he allowed the younger Inkling to join him on his journey, why he chose to protect her along with Gorman and Jade._  
"What? Why?" _Jade asked, holding her Kelp Splatterscope over her shoulder._ "Just how long have you been doing this? Fighting in this pointless turf war?"  
"Long enough…" _replied the Cap'n, rolling his neck. If squids had any bones he'd be cracking his neck, but rolling out the muscles for the fight ahead loosened him up a bit._  
"Long enough, with that old weapon?" _Sienna teased._ "You are old, aren't you Cap'n?"  
"Hey, watch your mouth you little brat!" _Cap'n responded trying to sound not too pleased with Sienna's cheekiness._ "This weapon is a classic. Reminds me of my younger days. Well, actually, I suppose the '89 model is closer to what I remember, but you take what you can get out here on the battlefield. No room for being picky."

"So, Cap'n…" _Gorman started._ "What is the plan here exactly?"  
"Fantastic question, Gorman!" _Cap'n responded._ "You see…" _he began, then looked to the Octarian forces._ "Come and get me!" _he growled, taking shots at the Octotroopers, swimming through his ink splatter to get up close to the enemy and blast as many as he could._  
"I hate this plan!" _Jade groans, moving to get higher ground, splatting as many as she could, needing to take a break to let her ink recharge._  
"The Cap'n just makes this stuff up as he goes along, doesn't he?" _Gorman asked, putting some distance between him and some oncoming troops._  
"Maybe so! But it's kind of fun, isn't it?" _Sienna called, charging through Octotroopers with her Roller._ "It's all crazy out here anyway, so why fight it?"  
"Um, Sienna. We are fighting the crazy!" _Gorman called._ "Or did you forget that?"  
"You know what I meant!" _Sienna contested, turning to face Gorman._  
"No, I don't." _Gorman yelled back._ "Nothing about this is fun. Inklings are being rounded up and splatted on a daily basis. Everyone we have known and loved are gone. And they aren't coming back.  
But no, you go on and be greedy and in this for yourself."  
 _There was a silent tension, the expression on Sienna's face changing as she looked to the ink around her, the mixture of purple, orange, green and blue._ _  
_"Sienna!" _yells Jade as an Octotrooper sneaks up on the orange tentacled girl, the barrel of its turret cart right in the young Inkling's face. Sienna's face turned a shade of green as the Octarian gonked at her, but then suddenly exploded in a splatter of green ink._ "Guys! You need to keep it together!" _Jade scolded, lowering her weapon as she stared at the two._ "Keep it together and fight for what we've lost. Don't let it be in vain!"

 _The Inklings nodded before getting back to the task at hand, meanwhile The Cap'n had inked his own path forward, grasping the barrel of the N-Zap '85, he ran right into a brigade of Octotroopers that began to spread out and move around him. It was hard to believe that long ago the Inklings and Octarians were friendly races who shared the same land and sky, but that was a thought that the Cap'n had to push from his mind as the new patrol flanked around him, and as the Cap'n pondered his next move, a new voice filled his ears._  
"You… shall…die… Cap'n!" it said, the voice unknown to the older Inkling, whose ragged eyes watched as a Shielded Octotrooper moved toward him.  
"Proper speech?" Cap'n questioned. "Since when are Octarian's like you capable of that? You lot are just grunts."  
"We have… had decades… to study… and learn… Cap'n _!" it answered, its slow and deliberate voice still containing some of the warped garbling of the previous batch._ "Long… long have…we known. Long have…we understood. But now. Now we… have the… power! Octarians will rise…! Inklings will fall! Soon you… will know… our pain."  
"Never!" _Cap'n responded._ "We Inklings will fight until our last breaths. Octarians have never won before, and it will be over my splatted body that they start now!"  
"That is… the intention…" _the Shielded Octotrooper responded._ "Our numbers… and weapons… are greater… our technology… is superior. Inklings are… insignificant! Octarians will… hunt… capture… splat. Right now… Octarians are evolving… we are… regaining our… lost time. The Inkling race… will perish."

 _Like Sienna before him, the Cap'n was now facing down the barrel of an Octotrooper blaster with nowhere to run. The Cap'n tried to swallow, to think. Even if he transformed, he'd be splatted before he could swim past them and back the other way, the hum of the Octrotrooper's mobile turrets filling Cap'n's head. He felt movment behind him, the younger Inklings had made their way through, Dynamo Roller, Jet Squelcher and Kelp Splattershot in hand._  
"Cease this activity!" _the Shielded Octotrooper commanded._ "Surrender and you may yet survive."  
 _Cap'n said nothing, the Octotrooper's speech pattern had become normal, and he'd shiver if he had a spine at what that could mean.  
Sienna watched the Cap'n. This was ludicrous. There was no way on Earth that the Octotrooper's would allow them to live, but not only that, Cap'n wasn't going to just take that order with no rebuttal, was he?_  
"You'll forgive us if we don't quite believe you, won't you?" _Gorman asked._ "You've been sending waves of your armies after us and every other Inkling. Your ships circle day and night everywhere in sight from our towns to our public playgrounds. What reason do we have to believe that you would allow us four to survive?"  
"New information suggests that you would be useful?" _the commanding Octarian responded._  
"For what? To whom?" _the Cap'n asked._  
"Negative. That information is classified. You Inklings will cease aggressive activity towards the Octarian race and come with us."  
"And if we refuse?" _Sienna asked, revving the motor of her Dynamo Roller._  
"I do not believe I need to spell out the alternative little child." _it responded._  
"I didn't think you would either. Gorman, let 'em have it!"  
"Heh. My pleasure!" _the blue tentacle squid responded as a large missile suddenly appeared on his back._ "INKSTRIKE!" _he yelled, the missile launching into the air, the Cap'n and the other Inklings using the momentary distraction to get away from their would be captors as the missile landed, creating an Ink Tornado that splatted those who got close to it._

"Find them! Find them!" _ordered the Shielded Octotrooper._ "Failure is not an option! The Inklings must be apprehended!"  
"Find them!" _echoed the troops in the garbled voices as the Octolings swam to safety._ "We shall find!"  
 _Two of the Octotroopers opened their turret casing, releasing metallic creatures that burst forward, yellow lights flashing and immediately began eating the ink that was splattered as they moved._  
"Squee-Gs!" _Cap'n called as the Octotroopers followed the Squee-Gs, spreading out and covering the terrain with their weapons._ "Mind yourselves!"  
 _As the patrol fanned out, Jade took her chance, transforming back into her humanoid form and sighting down the barrel of her Kelp Splatterscope, adjusting it against her slightly as it charged, firing as an Octotrooper came into her line of sight. Splat! went the Octotrooper, but the sound of the Splatterscope had caught the attention of others who were now focused on capturing Jade by any means._  
"Under attack! Seek! Capture! Splat!" _they warbled, unleashing more Squee-Gs to cut off Jade's path, forcing the Inkling to swim upward, getting a quick stream of ink on a nearby building, leaping into it and swimming in her green squid form, desperately trying to get away from her assailants._

Gorman watched from afar as Jade made her escape to the rooftops, a wave of tension running through his body. He had to help her somehow. While the rooftops might have been safer for her, and a the best place for her weapon, she'd run out of ink eventually, and may the Great Zapfish help her if the Octotroopers figured out how to get up to her.

"Gorman! Watch it!" _Sienna called out, bringing Gorman back to reality, the blue tentacle squid boy adjusting his White Arrowbands before leaping to one side for safety, trying to gain distance between himself and the Octotroopers._  
"Thanks, Sienna!" _he called, the orange tentacle girl smirking._  
"I owed you one, now focus!" _she responded._ "We'll get to Jade. But not if you end up splatted."  
 _Sienna spun around, raising the Dynamo Roller high and swinging it down, thrashing at her opposition, but it didn't seem to matter._

 _The numbers didn't seem to be getting any lower, and the Squee-Gs were now en masse, eating up every bit of ink they threw down to try and separate themselves from the Octarians._  
"Cap'n!" _Sienna called._ "Where are you?!"

 _The Cap'n was waiting. In the heat of confusion caused by the Inkstrike that Gorman had launched earlier, the Cap'n was now sitting in an ink puddle behind the Shielded Octotrooper as Octarian troops ran, or scuttled down alleyways looking for him, only to be met by his protoges weaponry.  
The Octarian troops were learning though; Squee-G deployment cutting off his crew from gaining any ground, some Octotroopers now even giving the others a chance to use their secondary weapons as sheer force of numbers made things like the Sprinkler and Splash Wall utterly useless.  
Four Inklings against an army of Octotroopers. The Cap'n had to end this now, and slowly he climbed from the ink and back into his humanoid form, grasping the barrel of his N-Zap '85 as he pointed it at the exposed back of the Shielded Octotrooper._

"I advise against such an action, Cap'n." _it started before Cap'n could even think about pulling the trigger._ "Even if you splat me now, it will not save them."  
"You're going to destroy us all anyway, so what does it matter when you do it?" _the Cap'n growled, tightening his grip on the handle of his gun._  
"Negative." _the Shielded Octotrooper started._ "As previously stated, you will come with us. New information suggests that you will be necessary."  
"I think I'll take my chances in the gravel, thank you?" _Cap'n responded, about to pull the trigger when a shrill cry filled his ears._ "Jade!" _he called out._

 _Up on the roof, Jade now found herself cornered by a enemies known as Octocoptors, Octarian troops who could fly while shooting balls of ink at a slow pace. Jade was surrounded by them. They weren't doing enough to splay the Inkling girl, but their attacks were certainly hurting her. Dropping her Kelp Splatterscope, she yielded.  
Back on ground level, Sienna and Gorman had also conceded, the Squee-Gs had them backed into a corner with Octotroopers looming over them. The Dynamo Roller and Jet Squelcher hit the ground._

"Do you see now, Cap'n?" _came his enemy's taunting voice._ "Your weapons and tactics are useless. You will comply, Cap'n. Lower your weapon and come with us."  
 _The Cap'n snarled, his eyes narrowing in anger as he reluctantly lowered his gun._  
"Fine! But if you harm a tentacle on those kids, I will end all of you. I promise you that!"  
"Your threats are meaningless. You have lost! You will come with us now."

 _The Shielded Octotrooper led the way as one of the Octarian flying saucers lit up, a yellow beam shining down, the Inklings being led to it, their faces looking exasperated, exhausted, defeated and humiliated._  
"I'm sorry you lot." _Cap'n said through an angered breath._ "We will find a way out if this though, I promise."


End file.
